Matthew Starts Preschool!

This is another moment where I am thinking to myself, How did this happen?  My sweet Matthew is starting preschool.  Three kids in school.  Such a far cry from my life when they were all home with me at the same time.  Sigh.  Matthew is SO ready.  He has been shadowing Michael and Claire for years now and asking lately when he could start school.  Well, there was no going back now.  Matthew started school!

I went back and forth when deciding where to send Matthew.  I love Ballard Montessori because Michael and Claire had the best time there and they were so prepared for Kindergarten.  But it is a little farther from my house than some of the other preschools.  I looked at a few other schools but ultimately, they all fell short.  I was happy to make the right decision and feel 100% about it.  The teachers and staff there are just wonderful!

An awesome surprise to me (and Matthew, too) was that my really good friend Karen decided to send her son to Ballard as well!  When I committed to Ballard, I had no idea she would eventually send her son Luke there so this was icing on my cake!  Luke and Matthew have been around each other since they were born and Karen and her husband Brian have been our friends since college!  We got the boys together before the first day of school to bond them further and hopefully lessen the anxiety on their first day!

We went to a short orientation day (the day before the official first day) and stayed with the boys as they toured the school and completed a scavenger hunt for items and important places in their classroom.  They had a blast!  I really wanted Matthew to be comfortable and transition well.  It was good to see all of the teachers and staff that taught/nurtured Michael and Claire for the three years we spent at Ballard.  The boys left happy and everything was in place for them to start school the next day!

We arrived a little early on the first day to give Matthew time to adjust.  Daddy, Emily and I brought Matthew to school and were so happy that he was starting school!  Matthew acted like one of the cool kids on the playground and walked confidently around and played with Luke before the bell rang.  A few minutes later, the teacher rang the bell and the kids lined up to walk into their respective classrooms.  Matthew waved goodbye and smiled as they stood in line.  Then, the line moved and Matthew's mood changed. 

His smile slowly fell into a look of fear and as he bravely walked with his friends.  When the line walked past me, he whispered in a panic, 'Mom, come with me!'.  I told him he was fine and to have fun on his first day.  As the line of new schoolers continued toward his classroom, Matthew stopped and stared at me.  He was red faced and nervous.  Reality had set it.  He had to leave his Mommy.  Luckily, Luke was there to help nudge him into the room and as we peered into the classroom, tears running off Matthew's chubby cheeks, we saw his friend Luke get up and give Matthew a tissue.  Luke sat next to him in circle time and kept looking to see if he was okay.  Matthew sat still, trying to to let anyone know he was crying- even though it was hard to miss.

It donned on me that I have never left Matthew with anyone that wasn't family!  He wanted to start school but hadn't thought through it enough to realized that even though I warned him I was going to drop him off and leave- that I was actually going to leave!  What a sweetheart.  My heart was breaking but I knew that Matthew had to figure this one out.  Sure enough, when E, Papa, Mommy, Daddy, and Emily picked him up- he was all smiles!  He did it!  He survived his first day of school!

After his big day, we took him out to lunch and celebrated his BIG accomplishment.  He wanted to sit with me at lunch and didn't want me to go anywhere.  Oh, my little Matthew.  He acts so mature, so in control, so much older in so many situations but in the situation where he had to leave his Mommy and Daddy, he acted like the little three year old that he is.  We love you buddy and are so proud of you.  Big School Boy Matthew.  We still can't believe it.

P.S.  Matthew calls onion rings, chicken rings.  It is so funny!